Includes bibliographical references (p. 367-386) and index

Introduction: Political Knowledge, Political Power, and the Democratic Citizen -- Ch. 1. From Democratic Theory to Democratic Practice: The Case for an Informed Citizenry -- Ch. 2. What Americans Know about Politics -- Ch. 3. Stability and Change in Political Knowledge -- Ch. 4. Who's Informed? Individual, Group, and Collective Patterns of Political Knowledge -- Ch. 5. Explaining Political Knowledge -- Ch. 6. The Consequences of Political Knowledge and Ignorance -- Ch. 7. Informing the Public's Discretion -- Appendix One: Overview of Data Sources -- Appendix Two: The Conceptualization and Measurement of Political Knowledge -- Appendix Three: Knowledge over Time -- Appendix Four: Details of the Structural Analysis Used in Chapter 4 -- Appendix Five: Methodology of the Analysis of Information's Impact on Opinion in Chapter 6

This book is the most comprehensive analysis ever written about the American public's factual knowledge of politics. Drawing on extensive survey data, including much that is original, two experts in public opinion and political behavior find that many citizens are remarkably well informed about the details of politics, while equally large numbers are nearly ignorant of political facts. And despite dramatic changes in American society and politics, citizens appear no more or less informed today than half a century ago

Michael X. Delli Carpini and Scott Keeter demonstrate that informed persons are more likely to participate, better able to discern their own interests, and more likely to advocate those interests through political actions. Who, then, is politically informed? The authors provide compelling evidence that whites, men, and older, financially secure citizens have substantially more knowledge about national politics than do blacks, women, young adults, and financially less-well-off citizens. Thus citizens who are most disadvantaged socially and economically are least able to redress their grievances politically. Yet the authors believe that a broader and more equitably informed populace is possible. The challenge to America, they conclude, lies in providing an environment in which the benefits of being informed are clearer, the tools for gaining information more accessible, and the opportunities to learn about politics more frequent, timely, and equitable

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews